The Best, Worst, and Most Clichéd Moments From the 2017 Golden Globes

Jimmy Fallon hosted the 74th annual Golden Globes on Sunday night—or what he called the first and maybe last party of 2017. This was disappointing to hear even before NBC's three-hour telecast began. Even though the Globes are the spunkier, livelier, boozier cousin to the more prestigious and self-serious awards shows, they remain a rather tame and predictable state of affairs—not exactly the Hollywood banger we would normally turn to amongst an approaching monumental change of power.

Nevertheless, the show had its variety of moments, some of which will sit with us throughout the next few months, others that will fall out of the cultural conversation by the end of the week. Here are some of the best, and some of the worst, from the star-studded night.

Getty ImagesKevin Winter

Best Night

La La Land broke a Globes record by winning seven awards, including best musical/comedy film. In fairness, the movie seemed preordained to have done well considering it's an actual musical that takes place in Los Angeles and features Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling (both of whom also won their acting categories). Its director, Damien Chazelle, earned directing and screenplay awards to go along with the movie's Best Original Score and Best Original Song victories. Get ready: This is the start of having "City of Stars" stuck in your head until the Oscars.

Best Speech

After a montage displaying the incredible catalogue of movies and roles to which Meryl Streep has lent her talent, the three-time Oscar-winner used her Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award speech to speak openly and honestly about everything but herself; namely, the climate that President-elect Trump began fostering at the beginning of his campaign. What followed was a stirring speech—memorizing and identifying the non-American birthplaces of a handful of fellow actors to highlight their immigrant past and making an impassioned plea for strong journalism in the years ahead—that quieted a buzzed room. She ended her lesson on empathy with a quote from the late Carrie Fisher: "Take your broken heart, make it into art."

Worst Larynx

Streep lost her voice this week, so she couldn't give her speech with the same fervor and gusto we've come to expect. Still, something about her scratchy whisper made her message all the more moving.

Best Musical Montage

If La La Land wasn't already the odds on favorite, Fallon and the NBC crew essentially telegraphed their stable of victories with an impressive opening montage mimicking the musical's own opening traffic jam number. The line of cars included O.J.'s white Ford Bronco, a limousine carrying a sleepy Jon Snow, but most notably featured a truck full of the Stranger Things kids listening Millie Bobby Brown's rapping. Oh, and did you know Justin Timberlake is Fallon's best friend?

Best Comeback

Barb is back! Well, she was for just a brief 10 seconds in that montage, rising from the pool to her synchronized swimming redemption. Consider this her final plea to return for the second season of Stranger Things.

Worst Start to a Monologue

What a way to begin the show. After Mariah Carey's gaffe on New Year's Eve, wouldn't NBC double check that the teleprompter was functioning properly? Apparently not. Fallon giggled and stalled his way through a minute of awkwardness until a new monitor could be wheeled in. Maybe the Russians hacked the machine? No, Fallon condemned Dick Clark Productions for possible sabotage instead.

Best Shout-out

Donald Glover spoke on behalf of the Atlanta cast and crew for winning the best musical/comedy television series. He thanked the city of Atlanta, the black folks that live there and then, before leaving the stage, thanked the rap group Migos for their song "Bad and Bougie." "That's the best song ever, so yeah," Glover said.

Worst Mistake

On the surface, Michael Keaton mistakenly combining Hidden Figures and Fences to create the new movie Hidden Fences isn't that big of deal. On the other hand, it represented another disappointing inability to distinguish between two movies prominently featuring black actors. Earlier on the red carpet, NBC host Jenna Bush made the same gaffe when interviewing Pharrell, who became lost in a Ben Affleck-ian existential stare while she finished her question. Half of Twitter became enraged while the other half started looking up how shock collars work on dogs.

Getty ImagesMatt Winkelmeyer

Worst Screen Time

Sylvester Stallone's three daughters were the honorary Miss Golden Globes of the evening. Sofia Vergara introduced them, but the camera was too busy staring at her dress, only capturing several seconds of the girls walking to greet her.

Best Introduction

Viola Davis didn't need a teleprompter to introduce Meryl Streep. Waiting for the crowd to hush while wearing a bright yellow dress, the sartorially inspired and equally eloquent Globes award-winner (something she could finally call herself just moments before after picking up a trophy for Best Supporting Actress for her work in Fences) began to relay a conversation she had with Streep about making apple pie. This was preamble to help describe Streep's ability to be "an observer and a thief," someone who shares with you what she's taken on the screen. "You make me proud to be an artist," she told Streep from the stage after affirming that she makes the best collared greens.

Best Comedic Duo

Do you remember watching your first animated movie? Steve Carell and Kristen Wiig do. They didn't have particularly fond memories though. Before announcing Zootopia as the best animated feature, Carell relayed the tale of his parent's divorce occurring in a movie theater lobby after seeing Fantasia. Wiig meanwhile remembered her grandpa taking her to see Bambi on March 14, 1981, the same day her three pet dogs were put down. The poor choice in movies forced her grandpa to disappear and Wiig didn't speak for two years. She did, however, have trouble keeping a straight face in what was the funniest exchange of the night. Wiig and Carell for hosting duties next year, please!

Cutest Moment

Dev Patel walked on stage to introduce his film Lion while holding the hand of the film's smallest star, Sunny Pawar. An audible "awwww" interrupted Patel's plot summary as the camera zoomed into the little guy's face.

Getty ImagesKevin Winter

Best Love Fest

Director Paul Verhoeven couldn't be more in love with Isabelle Huppert if he tried. After Elle, a movie that offers a unique, sometimes visceral, departure from the standard rape-survivor perspective, won best foreign movie, Verhoeven couldn't stop his effusive praise of his lead actress. "You are wonderful. I love you and I love, love you," he said. When Huppert won for Best Actress in a Drama, it seemed as though the two could have stayed embracing for the rest of the show.

Best Thank You

Once Ryan Gosling joked he wasn't as deserving as Ryan Reynolds and that he should cut his trophy into three pieces, he looked into the camera to thank his "sweetheart," Eva Mendes. While he was playing piano and learning to tap dance, she was pregnant with their second child fighting alongside her brother, Juan Carlos, who died of cancer last year. Gosling dedicated the award to him after thanking Mendes once again.

Best Kiss

In the background for a brief moment, in the midst of Gosling walking up to the stage to receive his award, Ryan Reynolds, sitting next to his wife Blake Lively, and Andrew Garfield engaged in a kiss. Fair to say Reynolds didn't take his loss too hard.

Worst Kiss

Upon Chazelle winning the award for Best Screenplay, Emma Stone made an attempt to kiss his cheek and misfired by about a foot. She probably needed some better choreography.

Worst Fallon Theatrics

After the rousing opener, Fallon didn't jump into the telecast too often. Near the end, however, he fastened the last names of presenters Jessica Chastain and Eddie Redmayne to the tune of Cypress Hill's "Insane in the Brain." It was…something.

Best DJ

Questlove.

Worst DJ

Julia Louis-Dreyfus took over during a commercial break and started playing Bruno Mars. Annette Bening shot her a confused glance as she walked out to present.

Worst Awards Show Cliché

There's nothing particularly wrong with The Crown winning for best drama television series. But it does feel as though the Globes make sure that [insert British TV show] wins at least one major award every year. Claire Foy also picked up a Best Actress award for The Crown, earning her comparisons to a young Emily Blunt.

Worst Camera Cut

In the middle of Tom Hiddleston's acceptance speech about his journeys to visit with children in Sudan, which garnered several puzzled looks, NBC cut to the Stranger Things kids. It was an oddly-timed jump, made, seemingly, only because of their age.

Best Mother-Daughter Time

In light of the recent deaths of Carrie Fisher and her mother Debbie Reynolds, the Globes produced a short In Memoriam package featuring their careers on the screen. Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn, who play a mother-daughter combo in an upcoming movie, came in a close second.

Best Awards Show Length

The Golden Globes wrapped up in just more than three hours, which is a far cry from how long the Grammys and Oscars typically run. Here's to setting the proper standard for Sunday night bedtimes.

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